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See Bill Cosby Arrive at Court to Face Assault Charges 1:29
Legendary comedian Bill Cosby arrived at a Pennsylvania courthouse Tuesday morning for a preliminary hearing in the sexual assault case against him.
The purpose of the hearing is to determine if there is enough evidence for the case to proceed to trial. Cosby could waive the hearing and be assigned a trial date, or the hearing could go forward with prosecutors laying out some of the case they have built.
Duquesne University Law School professor Wes Oliver told NBC News that Cosby's accuser, Andrea Constand, is not required to testify at the the hearing.
If she does take the stand, defense lawyers would be allowed to cross-examine her. If Constand skips it, prosecutors could have a detective read her statements into evidence instead...Constand, a former basketball star who worked at Cosby's alma mater, Temple University, claims that he drugged and molested her at his Pennsylvania home in 2004.
Prosecutors at the time chose not to charge Cosby, but he was hit with a count of aggravated indecent assault last year after dozens of other women came forward with claims of sexual misconduct.
Cosby, 78, has denied all allegations of assault and has sued some of his accusers for defamation. The Constand case is the only one in which he has been charged with a crime. He settled a lawsuit by Constand for an undisclosed sum..
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